Congrats CarabinerX! She's a serious beauty, and once you get it set up right you're in for a real good time. I love that Seafoam/Maple combination.

I've switched between Teles and Strats for the last 35 years and am always amazed at the versatility of the Stratocaster. From delicate and ethereal to ballsy rock tones and all points in between.
Besides, all my favorite guitarists are Strat players: Hendrix, Beck, Trower, King, Cooder, Gallagher, Knopfler and that's a wide variety of tones/styles for one guitar to cover.

I had an American Special that I loved everything about except the Jumbo frets. I tried for almost 2 years to get on with those frets. It was annoying because I loved the neck otherwise too. And unlike many I love the large headstocks.

Ultimately I traded it because of the frets. Otherwise I loved it a lot. I did eventually swap out PU's- well a loaded pickguard- with CS PU's as the Texas Specials were too hot for what I eventually wanted in a Strat, but even those were fine. I don't consider PU swaps modding. To me it's like putting differnt tires on your car.

Congrats! Surf green is one of my favourites! I went through 3 Strats and never bonded with any if them and stuck to my Les Paul. Then I built a partscaster that really worked for me and I recently bought another Fender that as absolutely made my other guitars unnecessary any more. Once you really connect with one and figure out how to truly use all they have to offer they are the most versatile guitar.

I did my NGD post a couple of weeks ago. The summary is it is brand new. I dig the Texas Special pickups, first time I've had a Strat where I can apply some overdrive and it still sounds good. I love the colour (my sons hate it) and the pregnant headstock.

It turns out the colour is important to me. You have to love your guitar, and if it doesn't have that spark to make you pick it up, then you might have a problem.